Apartment Conversion in Asheville?

[rooster8]

Does anyone think that the former hotels in Asheville that now serve as elderly apartments will ever be converted back hotels or condos? The three buildings that come to mind are the Altamont Apartments, the Vanderbilt Apartments and the Battery Park Apartments.

I'd personally like to see them turned into hotels, but condos wouldn't be too bad either.

[orulz]

Regarding your post... I would certainly like to see a mix of uses and residents in these buildings rather than all of them being subsidized rentals for the elderly, but only after suitable alternatives have been found for the current residents.

I really wish the Langren Hotel were still around, whether it were converted to subsidized housing for the elderly or condos or whatever. It was a 7 story (plus an open roof) hotel built in 1912, well before the construciton boom of the 1920s. It was torn down to make room for a three-story parking deck for the BB&T building. What a tragedy - it's probably the single most significant piece of architecture lost in downtown Asheville over the years. It was probably run-down when it was demolished, but it was a heavy, reinforced concrete structure that was structurally sound and in fact so sturdy that it was difficult to demolish. That means that it could have easily been restored at a later date.

I wonder whether someone could tear down the parking deck and build back the Langren just as it was. I guess it just wouldn't be the same. Oh well.

[archiham04]

Does anyone think that the former hotels in Asheville that now serve as elderly apartments will ever be converted back hotels or condos? The three buildings that come to mind are the Altamont Apartments, the Vanderbilt Apartments and the Battery Park Apartments.

I'd personally like to see them turned into hotels, but condos wouldn't be too bad either.

The Battery Park Apartment Building was actually up for sale last year, and there was a very real possibility that it would be converted to condo. The Housing Authority (i think) sold it and a church bought it.